It was time to do the Cabin Mod. What
is this? It's an air filter for your air conditioner.
Only cars with the protection package have it. Not that hard of a mod, and after you see the pictures, you'll agree.

There have been other web sites with instructions
on how to do this, so I'll give them credit because they helped me greatly.
You may be asking, why did I make this page if there are already directions
out there? Because the previous directions have people
removing brackets, wiper motors, and all kinds of stuff. For the
Charger, you don't have to do any of this.

This is where I ordered the part, which is
PKLXAIR. At the time of writing this page, the cost was $25.81 with
$9.95 shipping for a total of $35.76.

The official Mopar Part # is 4806294-AA.

Click on each picture to make it big, then back
to return here.

Here's a good picture to see what's happening.
Basically, you're removing part #2, and replacing it with the cabin mod.
For the charger, there are only two 10mm bolts that have to be removed and later
put back. Part #5 is the big bucket that you don't need, it's already installed
in your car.

Holy big box batman, it's huge.
In picture #3, you can see the two parts. The big piece on the left
you don't need, use it as a garbage can. It's really too bad they
send this piece and don't make it separate.

Here's the cabin mod, it's actually upside down
in these pictures. In picture #1, look near the top of the picture
where there is a black strip sticking out. When you put the cabin
mod in, this piece will slide into a grove on the bottom.

Now the cabin mod is right side up. There's
a little door that covers the filter. In the 2nd picture the door is
open and you can see the top of the filter.

See the blue arrows, those are the only pop
rivets you have to remove, and the one in the top left corner is a screw you
turn 90 degrees. Therefore, you only have to pop 3 rivets

I read a tip from someone who said to use soapy
water. It worked. Get a bucket, a rag, soak it,
lift the rivet, and let the soapy water drain down. Push the rag
to the center of the rivet, and push down on the screwdriver. The water
will drain out of the rag and pour into the rivet. In the 2nd
picture, you can see I'm using two flat headed screwdrivers to pry the rivet up. After
I get the screw drivers under the rivet, I turn them so they are on their ends,
and the rivet moves up.
Someone else used a crow bar and that also worked. In
the 3rd picture, the rivet is out. I lost one of these
and you can see how much it costs. If a rivet falls into the bucket,
just leave it there for now. You can reach your hand in and get it,
or use tongs to retrieve the rivet, but once you have the old filter out, you
can easily put your hand in there and get it.

This rivet to the far left has a foam covering.
I pried it up and then it popped off, hit the hood of the car, and was gone.
I have no idea where it went. This rivet is attached to the foam
piece. Don't worry if the rivet detaches from the foam. The
side of the car holds the foam piece in place. You'll know what I
mean when you see the piece. Pry this one up slowly, and keep
working until it pops out.

Finally, turn the screw rivet 90 degrees
clockwise and it will release. Gently pull everything up.
You'll hear a few snaps. There are 2 plastic clips that hold everything
down above the cabin mod.

Lift up, and you'll see the 10mm screws you will
have to remove next (blue arrows). Use a wrench and get the bolt started, then you can
use your fingers. If the bolt drops into the pan, don't worry, leave it
there. You can get it out later or use tongs if you're freaking out.

Now you have to pull the old piece out which you
can see in picture #1. The piece is behind the big
housing and you'll see the seam where it meets. Put your hand
just above each 10mm screw, and pull the old piece forward. You'll
have to pull VERY HARD until the old piece gets past the screw and comes free.
In the 2nd picture you can see the screws, and the flap you have to pull 2 inches
forward. Pull, Pull, Pull until you get it forward far
enough. It will eventually come free. That hose you see
on the left side of the picture is your wiper washer hose. Be careful not
to mess this up.

Now that the old piece is out, I take a damp
cloth and clean the big bucket and the intake area. As you can see, it's
dirty. This is the air you breath. Now that the old
piece is out, you can reach your hand in there and easily get any rivets or
bolts that dropped down.

Holy tight fit Batman. How are
we going to get that piece in there? Lift up, and gently work
it in. Be careful not to mess up the foam pieces.
Take your left hand and pull up real hard, and then push the piece in with your
right hand. With a little wiggling, it will fall into place.

The cabin mod drops into place. On
the bottom of the cabin mod, is a plastic groove that goes into a slot.
Lift up the cabin mod and push it into place. Pull forward to
make sure the bottom is in the slot. If you've got it correct, the cabin mod
won't pull forward. Now push it against the two screws.
Put the 10mm bolts back on and tighten them by hand. You don't have
to tighten the bolts that much, because all you really need to do is compress
the foam a little. Hand tighten, then do one more turn with
the wrench. If you drop a 10mm bolt, don't worry, it's easy to get.

The cabin mod is in place, cool.
Close the filter door, put the cover back on, push down on everything and it
will snap into place. Turn the rivet screw 90 degrees counter
clockwise to lock it. Replace the pop rivets. If you lost any,
go to the dealer and pay $3.35 for each one. Clean
up and you're done.

10/15/06 - Update: I've since learned that
the cabin mod is supposed to be installed behind the flaps. In
my case, I pulled the old piece out, and then installed my cabin mod in front of
the flaps. To me, this doesn't matter, because in other directions,
they tell you not to tighten the bolts down or else you'll compress the foam too
much. I've since looked at the foam on my installation and it does
make a seal with the body. If doing a perfect install is important
to you, then you might want to follow the directions that have you taking off
the wiper arm and support bar. Or you Pull, Pull, Pull on the flaps until
they come forward far enough, then wiggle the new piece behind them. But I think putting it in front of
the flaps and tightening down the bolts is a tight enough fit.

It took me 1 hour to do this. Don't
worry about how long it takes. Go slow, take your time with the pop
rivets, and you won't bust or lose any of them.

03/26/08 - Update: I bought a new cabin
filter, the car had 34k miles on it. I went to install it,
then decided to clean the cabin filter case. Well, that wasn't
good enough for me, now I wanted the case installed behind the flaps.
That meant popping the plastic rivets up, to loosen the cover on top, and
removing the 10mm bolts. I removed the rivets half way across the
car, and the right side wind shield wiper so I could pull the cover up away.
Then I had to PULL the cabin filter case flaps forward past the screws and get
them to stick there. After that I had to install the cabin filter
behind the flaps. I did the left side first, then the right. It took
me an hour to figure out how to do this. I had to wiggle the cabin filter
case until the screws lined up and went into place. I tried
different ways until I got it. Let me tell you, it was very hard to
get the filter case behind the flaps. Now I've got a perfect
install.

I hope this web site helps you install your cabin
mod with no surprises.